While I've been out of college for less than a year at this point, I have recently felt compelled to share my still-new experiences of life immediately post-graduation. My last year of college was quite a ride, and my life right after graduation was all the more interesting, if not worrisome. I graduated college completely unsure of myself: do I have the skills I need to impress hiring companies? Are my grades going to impact my employment potential? How long will it be before I get hired? What about paying off my loans?
These are probably typical of many graduating students, and to this end I present a few tips, opinions, and bits of advice based on my experiences in the last two years as I transitioned into a college senior, then graduated, and finally landed a good-paying job that I enjoy.
Want the Education
This might seem obvious to many people, but I've seen it all too often in college that many students don't want to be in college, they are simply there by the demands of parents, society, or both. Everything about college is optional: only a high school diploma is "required" for 99% of society, but higher education is expensive, exhausting, and entirely discretionary. If you are going to pay tens thousands of dollars a year to be educated, you better damn well want that education. I can understand kids disliking high school and pushing their way out of that as quickly as possible, but college is your individual chance to further your knowledge of the world, diversify your skill set, and open up new opportunities. If you don't want to work for this, then get out. Please. I didn't appreciate college until I was halfway through it... which told me that I needed a couple of years working out of high school to learn to appreciate what further education could do for me. Still, I stuck with it and here I am... loving my degree.
See All Those People? Socialize
If high school offers a great pool of people for you to become friends with, then college provides an ocean full of people for you to interact with. You will probably make new friends in college - that's almost a given - but what you should really be bent on doing is spreading your name as much as possible. Network. Get to know not only close, personal friends, but their friends as well. Learn the names of people in your core classes, people who probably share your similar interests. You don't necessarily have to become best friends with your peers, but make sure your face and name is recognized. It's important that, should one of your peers become a well-known in your industry of choice, you can reference them in your workplace ("Hey, John and I graduated the same class, we grouped together for a few projects before."). Of course, heavy networking is key, so knowing plenty of names and keeping in contact is pretty key.
In my personal experience, meeting lots of people throughout college helped me to become a better public speaker, as well as bettering my interactions with my peers. I'm extremely grateful for the chance to meet so many people throughout college. I would highly recommend anyone in college to take advantage of the social scene whenever possible.
Participate (When You can)
Something I never did much of, but I wish I had now: participate in extracurricular activities. While I was already bogged down with work, classes, projects, and homework, I still wish that I took the time to join clubs, use TA sessions, or go the extra mile for group projects. Participating in any activity will boost your chances to socialize (see above), and allow you to apply your current skills and classroom education to real-world situations.
Grades Aren't Make It Or Break It
While we are told that grades are everything in college, and that 4.0 is the only goal we should strive for, I've found that this isn't true. While I have seen plenty of my 4.0 peers rocket right into high-paying jobs right after graduation, I've seen plenty of 3.5 and higher friends struggle to find work, struggle to stand out, and struggle to get out of their minimum-wage college job.
I didn't graduate college better than a B-C average, with a tilt towards the lower end of that scale. So why did I land a good job just four months after graduation while some of my 3.5 friends still work at Meijer? Exactly... it's not about the grades.
While 4.0 grades are a great bullet point on a resume, I opted not to share my GPA on my resume. Instead I built a resume around what I already knew about my field, what BGSU taught me, my current skill set, and where I would like to see myself and my skill set go in the next few years. During my many conversations with hiring companies, grades hardly come up. Don't get me wrong, every employer asked me for my GPA, but did not dwell on the subject very long. Instead I was constantly drilled on my available skills, past experiences, and the type of person I am. Definitive answers to these questions are more important at a job interview than the definitive answer of "3.5"
My best advice: if you stress about your grades near the end of college, then don't stress. Do your best and be reasonable about your numbers (if you have a 0.5, don't bother reading the rest of this column, actually). Anyone in good standing with a college would be in good standing with many companies. Diversify and expand your skill set, focus on being good at many things in your area of study, and make sure you understand what type of person you are and what you have to offer a potential employer.
Lower Your Job Expectations (But Not Really)
I was told all throughout college that a computer science graduate can generally expect to start off making $55,000 per year out the door, with the numbers only going up from there.
Someone lied to me.
As an industry average, $55k is a nice, round number that sounds fleeting against a lot of other majors that see average starting pay in the range of $30k to $40k. However, that $55k figure is based upon a certain type of position with computer science, known generally as a "software developer." This grotesquely vague title doesn't begin to cover the wide range of jobs that a computer science graduate can hold, and I'm proof that this range exists.
I initially opted for that $55k figure right upon graduation. I only applied for positions that promised big paychecks and plentiful benefits. Something didn't click. I aimed a bit lower, looking at jobs between $40k and $50k. Again, no luck. Finally I pushed aside any notions about what I wanted to be worth and instead focused on what I could offer as a person, not as a payroll ID number. Yes, I ignored money for the sake of improving myself, and BAM... I got a job.
I didn't really lower my job expectations in this case. Yes, I'm making less money than the industry starting average, but I'm working a job that allows me to continue learning at my own pace and apply my college education in small, carefully calculated pieces... exactly what I really wanted after graduation.
Quick Job Advice
My final piece of advice is quite simple: if you haven't already done so during your final semester, begin applying for jobs that interest you the day after you graduate. It's understandable that you just finished four or five years of grueling school and that a break is warranted. You will get your break, down worry. While you wait to hear back from recruiters, managers, or HR representatives about your applications and resumes, take your break. The last thing you want at this point is to be stuck working your crappy college job for years to come. It's important that you get your name onto the desks of hiring companies as soon as possible, while you're still fresh out of school. Many companies I've talked to after graduation are more willing to hire a college graduate knowing that they are getting an inexperienced recruit. At the same time, if you're still jobless three years after graduation, you better have a damn good story to explain to hiring managers by then as to why it took to you so long to get looking.
On the other hand, we are currently in a recession as I write this, so I'm guessing some jobs will be hard to come by in the coming months or years, so don't fret. Just start applying. Over apply as well. If you find three or four companies that interest you, then apply at ten companies overall, knowing that half of those may not even be interested in you from the start. That's just the way the cookie crumbles
Final Notes
While college graduation is a time of change, it's important to get that change off on the right start. I'm still pretty new out of college, relatively speaking, but I would trust all of the above advice if I had to do it all over again.
If anyone has any questions or comments about this article, leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
B3 out.
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